After saying this, Zhu Qizhen couldn't help but give a thumbs up secretly.
Tang Xinggu's performance today is really perfect. What's even more rare is that the monarch and his ministers have never communicated before. For Zhu Qizhen, today is a complete surprise!
Professional people who do professional things must be scholars when it comes to eloquence.
Take a look at what they said. Not only is it reasonable, but it is also for the country and the people. It seems that as an emperor, if he does not agree, he will be sorry for his ancestors.
The ministers could not refute for a while, so they simply acted rogue.
More than a dozen civil servants, led by Wang Wen and Xu Bin, suddenly knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, please do not listen to Tang Xinggu's words. The sea ban will never be lifted!"
Afterwards, other people came to their senses one after another and knelt down on the ground, trying their best to oppose Tang Xinggu's plan to open the sea.
Only then did Zhu Qizhen really see the huge team of officials who opposed the opening of the sea. At a glance, they accounted for almost half of them.
These people did not come up with any strong arguments to refute. They kept repeating the same old sayings, such as the ancestral laws that cannot be changed, and the country will not be a country, as if the Ming Dynasty will perish as long as the sea is opened.
Listening to the chatter of His Highness's officials, Zhu Qizhen's face became extremely gloomy, and the anger in his heart gradually rose.
Because, he has discovered that most of the people who shout loudest and oppose the most fiercely are officials from the coastal areas of Jiangnan.
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, especially since the imperial examination, scholars from the south have steadily dominated the north, and most of the officials in the DPRK and China came from the wealthy places in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
The reason is not difficult to imagine. The Ming Dynasty unified the Central Plains from south to north. The south is rich and the north is war-torn. If you don’t even have enough to eat, why should you study?
Logically speaking, the closer you are to the coast, the more you understand the importance of the ocean.
However, it is precisely these people who are the most fiercely opposed now, and it is hard to say what their motives are.
According to the information currently available, although the imperial court strictly prohibits civilians from going to sea, in fact, there are quite a few smugglers at sea.
In other words, the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban was actually only aimed at ordinary people, and it had long been in vain for those local gentry and noble families.
But now, as long as the imperial court opens the sea, their interests will be violated, and these people will naturally resist with all their might.
Perhaps some of them are really opposed because of their outdated ideas, but most of them have ulterior motives.
Zhu Qizhen's eyes gradually became firmer. The opening of the sea was related to the future of the Ming Dynasty, and he would never give in.
At this time, Columbus had not yet been born, the Franconian countries were still pinned down by the Ottoman Empire, and only a few Arabs could go to sea.
If we fail to seize this opportunity, it will be too late when the West begins the Age of Discovery.
Now, if we want to open this breakthrough, Tang Xinggu is particularly important.
According to what I learned during this period, in fact, this person’s character is not bad. He is not greedy for money or lustful. He is just chasing a “name”.
For the sake of fame, he can go against himself as the emperor.
Also for the sake of fame, he could give up the fine clothes and food in the capital and follow the army to eat sand in Mobei.
Now, he faces the criticism of the ministers alone with his own strength.
It’s time to add some chips to him!
"Tang Qing's family, I remember that you once served in Nanjing, right?"
Tang Xinggu immediately understood what the emperor meant, and immediately replied: "I have served in the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate for five years, and as a patrol censor in Zhejiang for three years."
According to their different identities and responsibilities, the inspection censors in the Ming Dynasty can be divided into two types: functional inspections and authorized inspections.
Authorized inspections are mainly carried out by the emperor dispatching supervisory censors from time to time, or other officials acting as inspectors.
Functional inspection means that the inspection censor takes one province as a group and conducts inspections in separate lanes for a period of one year, and then returns to the capital after the work is completed.
Tang Xinggu served as a patrol censor for three years, which shows that he has served in at least three places and has a good understanding of the local customs and customs.
Zhu Qizhen was very satisfied with his answer and continued to ask: "Since the Qing family once served in Zhejiang, we might as well talk about what the situation is like along the coast? What kind of life do the people there live?"
Tang Xinggu calmed down and said: "Back to the emperor, the people along the coast are not living a good life. It can even be said to be... miserable."
"Yushi of the Tang Dynasty, why are you so alarmist?"
Xu Bin, the young minister of Taichang Temple, seemed to have caught the loophole in Tang Xinggu's words and immediately began to fight back.
"Inheriting the emperor's sage, the world is now at peace and the people live and work in peace and contentment. You actually say that the people's life is miserable. Let me ask you, do you still have the emperor in your eyes? Do you still have the Ming Dynasty?"
Seeing Xu Bin gaining power, the others immediately reacted and attacked Tang Xinggu together.
"Yes, alarmist talk is destructive!"
"It's simply a rebellious statement..."
However, Tang Xinggu remained unmoved. He turned around slowly and glanced at these people.
"Xu Shaoqing, my lords, I would like to ask, are you really for the Ming Dynasty?"
"That's natural!"
Xu Bin responded without hesitation: "Could it be that people like the Yushi of the Tang Dynasty who want to violate the rules of their ancestors are doing it for the sake of the Ming Dynasty?"
"I don't think so!"
Tang Xinggu smiled coldly and said: "I, Tang, have lived along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for three years. Others may not know what kind of life the people there live, but I, Tang, have seen it with my own eyes."<
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Xu Bin had an expression with his nostrils turned upward, and snorted coldly: "I would like to hear your opinions!"
"As the saying goes, you can eat mountains if you rely on the mountains, and you can eat the sea if you rely on the sea. However, the people in the Jiangnan coastal area have their backs against the vast ocean and can only look at the countless treasures in the ocean, but they can only look at the ocean and sigh with fear. What Xu Shaoqing said is alarmist, but
I wonder what Xu Shaoqing has to say?"
Xu Bin looked disapproving and retorted: "Since the court prohibits people from going to the sea, they can just return to the shore and farm. Why is it so miserable?"
"Farming?"
Tang Xinggu sneered: "Most of the coastal areas are saline-alkali sandy land, which is extremely barren, and less than one in ten can grow food. In the summer and autumn, a sudden wind blows, and even the houses are blown away without a trace. Let alone
Japanese pirates are rampant, and you have to be on guard against Japanese pirates landing on the shore every day to plunder. Xu Shaoqing must have never experienced such a life in his life, right?"
"But, the ancestral system... cannot be violated!"
Facing Tang Xinggu's aggressiveness, Xu Bin felt cold sweat dripping from his forehead, and his tone became weaker and weaker, until it was inaudible.
Tang Xinggu ignored him and continued to say to Zhu Qizhen: "I asked you to open the sea because today, the sea ban may be an untouchable taboo for ordinary people, but for some people, it is in name only."
."
As soon as these words came out, the ministers suddenly felt their anus tighten.
Wang Wen, the censor of Youdu, frowned and said: "Sea prohibition is a national policy set by Emperor Taizu. If the censor of the Tang Dynasty impeaches someone for violating the ancestral system, please provide evidence, otherwise it will be slander and will be difficult to convince the public."
Immediately afterwards, the ministers stood up one after another, with sad and sorrowful looks on their faces.
"Your Majesty, the imperial censor of the Tang Dynasty used conjectures to slander the ministers and others. It is really difficult for the ministers and others to be convinced. I hope the emperor will make the decision for us!"
"In Tang Xinggu, this person did not abide by the ancestral system and ruined the court style. I hope the emperor will punish him severely and set an example to others!"